Office of Compliance and Enforcement
Craig Pritzlaff, Director
Staff: Address/Phone/Fax
Critical Infrastructure
Enforcement
Program Support and Environmental Assistance
TCEQ Field Operations Around the State:
- Field Operations Border and Permian Basin
- Field Operations Central Texas
- Field Operations Coastal and East Texas
- Field Operations North Central and West Texas
See our regional directory.
See our
region map and address list in PDF.
See an interactive map of our regional offices
.
Critical Infrastructure
Kelly Cook, Deputy Director
Staff: Address/Phone/Fax
The Critical Infrastructure Division, in keeping with the State of Texas Homeland Security Strategic Plan, strives to achieve a safer, more secure, and more resilient state. To accomplish this, the division seeks not only to assure compliance with environmental regulations to protect health and the environment, but also—during disaster conditions—to support regulated critical assets that are essential for the state and its citizens.
Dam Safety Program
The Dam Safety Program monitors and regulates both private and public dams in Texas. The program inspects dams that pose a high or significant hazard and provides recommendations and reports to responsible parties (owners) to help them maintain safe facilities. The program ensures that these facilities are constructed, maintained, repaired, and removed safely.
Homeland Security Program
The TCEQ's Homeland Security Program assists in the planning, development, coordination, and implementation of initiatives to promote the governor's homeland-security strategy, and to detect, deter, respond to, and recover from disasters, whether caused by nature or people. These initiatives include notifying and coordinating with those responsible for much of the state's critical infrastructure, including producers and purchasers of drinking water for the public, high-risk dams, refineries, petrochemical facilities, and wastewater-treatment facilities.
As part of the Texas Homeland Security Council, the TCEQ assists in planning, coordination, and communication for homeland-security preparedness. The TCEQ Homeland-Security Coordinator facilitates requests for assistance from the Texas Homeland Security Office (THSO) and the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM), and notifies TCEQ executive management of significant statewide incidents. The coordinator works with all TCEQ program areas and the THSO and TDEM on issues and activities related to all hazards, including homeland security and emergency management.
Radioactive Materials Compliance and Chemical Reporting
The division oversees the Radioactive Materials Compliance Program and the Tier II Chemical Reporting Team, which includes the Local Emergency Preparedness (LEPC) Grant Program.
Our health physicists focus on the safety and security of radioactive materials. The health physicists investigate compliance with radioactive-materials regulations regarding construction, operation, security, and closure at regulated facilities, and are members of the state radiological emergency-response team.
The Tier II Chemical Reporting Program’s focus is to ensure that local emergency planning and response agencies have access to accurate information concerning hazardous substances being stored in their jurisdictions. The LEPC Grant Program is focused on providing grants to LEPCs to establish, maintain, and/or improve their implementation of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). Only LEPCs that are officially recognized by the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) are eligible for this grant.
Emergency Management Support Team
The division has an Emergency Management Support Team that supports the state's capability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters caused by nature or people. Part of this function involves coordinating state-level preparation activities with TDEM and supporting the TCEQ's regional offices by training staff on enhanced disaster preparedness, and response to and recovery from large-scale or statewide disasters. Another part of these efforts is the TCEQ BioWatch Program, a federal initiative that focuses on early detection of bioterrorism agents to enable the earliest possible response to an attack
Enforcement
Amy Settemeyer, Deputy Director
Staff: Address/Phone/Fax
The Enforcement Division protects human health and the environment through enforcement of the TCEQ rules, regulations, and permits. The division develops formal enforcement cases in accordance with state statutes and agency rules and consistent with the agency’s philosophy that enforcement, when necessary, must be swift, sure, and just.
The division also drafts proposed enforcement orders that include appropriate penalties and ordering provisions for the commission’s consideration and approval. When determining penalties, the TCEQ considers the nature, circumstances, extent, duration and gravity of the violation; the severity of the impact on human health and the environment; compliance history; culpability; good faith effort to comply; economic benefit; deterrence; and other factors as justice may require.
In addition, the Enforcement Division:
- Administers the Compliance Monitoring Program under the Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES).
- Administers the third-party Supplemental Environmental Project program.
- Monitors compliance with the TPDES 75/90 rule, which imposes requirements whenever flow measurements at a sewage treatment plant reach 75 percent and 90 percent of permitted capacity.
- Reviews and responds to notices and disclosures submitted pursuant to the Texas Environmental, Health, and Safety Audit Privilege Act.
- Monitors U.S. Environmental Protection Agency watch lists for the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
- Generates compliance history ratings and calculations annually, allowing the regulated community to review their information before it becomes public through the Advanced Review of Compliance History system; processing compliance history appeals; and correcting erroneous data on request.
See also:
Enforcement Reports: Annual, Monthly
Penalty Policy
TCEQ Enforcement Process Review
Program Support and Environmental Assistance Division
Andy Gardner, Deputy Director
Staff: Address/Phone/Fax
The Program Support and Environmental Assistance Division provides support to customers for programs that span the state of Texas:
Small Business and Local Government Assistance
SBLGA staff provide confidential compliance assistance on air, water, and waste regulations to small businesses and small local governments. Services include:
- confidential compliance assistance hotline (800-447-2827) for small businesses and local governments
- online tools and resources for small businesses and local governments
- advisory groups that help the TCEQ implement legislation, develop rules, form policies and procedures, and implement plans to assist small businesses
- free on-site technical assistance and other resources for regulatory compliance
Program Support Section
Program Support staff provide technical and programmatic assistance to the regional offices. Staff also coordinate compliance efforts with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Landscape Irrigation Program
The Landscape Irrigation Program conserves water through its efficient application to promote healthy plant and turf materials and protects human health by requiring backflow prevention. In areas that have not adopted local programs, TCEQ personnel serve as the primary enforcement authority.
On-Site Sewage Facility Program
The OSSF program compiles and enforces a minimum state code for the design, construction, installation, operation, and maintenance of on-site sewage facilities (such as septic tanks); delegates regulatory authority to local governments; reviews and evaluates local OSSF programs; and gives technical assistance and support to local governments, licensees, manufacturers, and the public.
TCEQ Field Operations Around the State
To meet the challenges posed by Texas’ diversity and to provide excellent service to Texas citizens and the regulated community, the agency divides the state into four regional areas:
- Field Operations Border and Permian Basin
- Field Operations Central Texas
- Field Operations Coastal and East Texas
- Field Operations North Central and West Texas
The regional areas are responsible for the administration and operation of each region including legislative and EPA investigative commitments, emergency response, budget, human resources, purchasing, lease management, consistency of program implementation, development of program policy and guidance, coordination and implementation of special initiatives, coordination and interaction with the EPA, and data management.
Major responsibilities of all regional offices include:
- Investigating compliance at permitted and registered air, water, and waste facilities located across the state and complaints at facilities and operations—permitted or not—from citizens, businesses and other organizations, or other concerned parties.
- Developing enforcement-action referrals for violations identified during investigations.
- Environmental education and technical assistance for communities as needed.
- Monitoring the quality of ambient air, surface water (rivers, lakes, and bays), and public drinking water.
In addition, the agency’s strike teams are housed in the regions. They are a key component of the agency’s ability:
- to rapidly respond to emergencies (including natural disasters) with personnel, equipment, and expertise;
- assess the extent of public exposure to hazardous materials; and
- provide an interoperable communication platform.
These groups of highly trained and experienced environmental investigators can offer specialized, long-term response capabilities to any region in the state for almost any type of event, whether natural or caused by people.
See also:
Field Citation Program
Edwards Aquifer Protection Program
Field Operations Border & Permian Basin
David A. Ramirez, Area Director
Staff: Address/Phone/Fax
Responsible for the operations of:
- Region 6 (El Paso)
- Region 7 (Midland)
- Region 15 (Harlingen — includes Eagle Pass Office; also office of the Rio Grande Watermaster)
- Region 16 (Laredo)
Field Operations Central Texas
Joel Anderson, Area Director
Staff: Address/Phone/Fax
Responsible for the operations of:
- Region 9 (Waco)
- Region 11 (Austin)
- Region 13 (San Antonio — also office of the South Texas Watermaster)
Field Operations Coastal & East Texas
David Van Soest, Area Director
Staff: Address/Phone/Fax
Responsible for the operations of:
- Region 5 (Tyler)
- Region 10 (Beaumont)
- Region 12 (Houston)
- Region 14 (Corpus Christi)
Field Operations North Central & West Texas
Randy J. Ammons, Area Director
Staff: Address/Phone/Fax
Responsible for the operations of:
- Region 1 (Amarillo)
- Region 2 (Lubbock)
- Region 3 (Abilene)
- Region 4 (Dallas/Fort Worth — includes Stephenville Special-Project Office for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations)
- Region 8 (San Angelo — also office of the Concho Watermaster)